Ross Automotive Consultants (RAC) partners with Captive Risk Management (CRM) to launch an insurance programme designed to cover US auto dealers against wind and hail exposure. The programme lets dealers establish a fully segregated, IRS-compliant cell within an existing reinsurance position to fund and reimburse deductible costs on inventory, paintless dent repair (PDR) and business interruption claims. Premiums are validated by third-party pricing, and unused funds accumulate over time rather than disappearing as an expense. RAC, a finance and insurance (F&I) provider serving franchise and independent dealers, frames the structure as a way for dealers to turn catastrophic deductible costs into a dealer-owned asset. Coverage through the programme includes wind, hail, hurricane and tornado damage to new and used inventory; deductible reimbursement on qualifying insured losses; PDR costs; shortfalls between insurance settlements and actual repair costs; and business interruption tied to catastrophic weather events. The launch comes as severe convective storms deliver a third consecutive year of more than US$50 billion in US insured losses, according to the Insurance Information Institute, and as the average hail damage auto claim has nearly doubled since 2020 to around US$8,200 per vehicle. RAC notes that dealerships, which routinely park hundreds of units outdoors, can face deductible obligations from a single qualifying storm large enough to erase a quarter's profit. "For years, our dealer clients have absorbed catastrophic deductible costs with nothing to show for it," says Jim Ross, founder and CEO of Ross Automotive Consultants. "This partnership with Captive Risk Management gives them a legitimate, IRS-compliant way to take control of their risk and, for the first time, to build equity from it." Kenny Adkins of Captive Risk Management adds: "Auto retail carries one of the most concentrated, weather-exposed inventories in American business, and the standard insurance market has not kept pace. Our partnership with Ross Automotive Consultants puts a proven, dealer-specific solution in front of the operators who need it most." The programme is available immediately to franchise and independent dealerships nationwide. RAC is offering a complimentary feasibility analysis to help dealer principals assess whether the structure fits their operation.
